protests follow a blast in beirut which killed at least eighteen clued in the country's top security official some lebanese m.p. suggests this could be the syrian conflict spilling over the border. in the pipeline to russia's state owned giant austin if it is poised to become the world's largest listed all producer as a massive industrial deal enters negotiations. antigovernment protests gathered pace in bahrain with fresh rallies taking place this friday despite the police and judicial crackdown that's now seen four arrested for writing on twitter.

from the new center here in central moscow international news and comment live on a lottie a massive car blast as rocked the center of the lebanese capital beirut killing at least eight people and injuring dozens a top lebanese security official is among the dead so many muslims across the country have taken to the streets in anger over the assassination the protests have turned violent with gunshots reportedly heard in several cities and roads blocked by burning tires our correspondent in the region and in a going to go has been following the developments in the aftermath of the blast. it occurred at the ground two forty five pm local time when everybody was on their way to picking their to picking up kids from kindergarten schools the day it's friday a holy day for muslims of course a lot of people have reported that those who live as far as one of them go away from the scene of the blast they have imported their open doors being slammed shut when does shattering and shaking people. generally nary

a nearby the situation again we're getting also getting reports of people that you know any area that there is widespread panic all over the place such explosions have a have haven't happened didn't really since two thousand and eight so a lot of people are naturally very nervous there are reports of body parts on fences in the surrounding area the buildings of course have been just story the ones that are actually in the area of the blast so obviously all the rubble with the furniture with the wires with the electricity everything is on the street it's a total mess people can't get in or get out of the area firefighters working at the scene hospitals reporting shortage of blood encouraging people to come in and donate blood of course so really very desperate of time is very desperate time in beirut right now nothing definite is known but there are already voices saying that this is a spillover from the conflict that's happening just across the border in syria and the sunni shia standoff in beirut is already starting to rise up again it was kind of a bad burner but now it may be gripping the country once again. some lebanese m.p.'s

are already accusing the syrian regime of being behind the blast but a beirut base to expert on the middle east says these allegations dictated by politics but u.n. envoy to syria he was here in beirut just two days ago he said that he was very afraid that the conflict all the rest in syria could not stay within syria's borders for forever and that eventually if it continues it will go beyond the borders this was a statement made by look little brahimi just two days ago from this very city and now two days after he make these statements we see this massive massive blast i was at the scene today for a couple of hours and it was a massive massive explosion. already we have the you know the political element coming into play some elements of the march fourteenth movement which is known to be anti bush. even before it was known to the who was killed in this explosion they quickly point to the. the syrian government right now with us on the head of the

security who apparently has a main killed more targeted that he is known to be actually a robot fourteen is more not to be one of the our supporters not to be very very likable person or those who are in government so i think now this would only lead to more and more fingers from march fourteenth and from their west and how is it being pointed at syria the question which must be raised in all of these cases is a who benefits from such an act i think you know if the syrian government does go ahead although we don't have any information but if it does go ahead with these acts i think it's only endangering itself and committing suicide there is that is the syrian government as such is it as to what side of the government i myself don't see so. lebanon is not the only country in the region affected by the syrian conflict turkey's military once again into syria in response to two shells landing on turkish territory this is the latest border incident between the two countries with tension between ankara and damascus remaining

a dangerous level turkey's been carrying out strikes against syria since a stray shell from across the border killed five civilians in a turkish town earlier this month i suppose claims it's fighting rebels using a safe haven on the border accusing turkey of openly supporting them and supplying arms and how relations between the two are teetering on the brink of war in peter lavelle's cross talk that's coming up later this hour here on r.t. . to. the title of world's biggest listed all producer could soon be held by a new company russia's state owned last nifty is looking to seal a multi-billion dollar mega deal with british russian joint venture t.n. k b p r t sarah firth has the details from london. if this thing. have become the

second biggest agreement in the history of oil businesses at this point to get britain based p.p.c. fifty percent stake in ten k. b.p. russia's biggest oil pretty said is an equal also is also being made to the full russian billionaires who own the other half of that t.i.n.k. b.p. asset the whole deal will come in at a whopping sixty billion dollars and it will make ross neff the world's biggest oil producer making it an incredibly dominant player of the russian located it would be said then to be able to see some of its plans in the. arctic exploration and the like now in the last days there's been a scandal brewing well one of the piece senior officials was detained by russian police is it keys is selling of positions within the state agency i know it's not thought likely by the people we've been speaking to that that will in any way hamper this deal this go ahead certainly he still is on the table right now nothing

yet side to say on the looking pretty likely that that is going to go ahead. well more of what the deal would mean for the world of business is one of some facts and figures on the potential agreement in business but it's in a little later with peter all of them. but just how a rose no is going to be able to afford this multibillion dollar deal join me in a few moments time probably having a look at one of the ways in which they're looking to raise a bit extra compass. bani walid in libya the next stronghold of late can look at that he is in flames again a year after the dictator's death and the nato led military operation libya's army in the loyal militia trying to clear out supporters of the old regime and of laid siege to the time for the last two weeks well let's talk to political analyst dr louche he's joining me live now here in our t.v. from jordan where the tensions around bani walid just on the line the challenges for transforming libya into a peaceful country but despite this was the west i'm back to. arab spring in libya

a success is the country better off without gadhafi. well i think the picture speaks for itself for the last three weeks benny a leader that has been laying under seeds and recently it was bombarded many civilians were killed and warned that the city was not allowed to receive medical supplies food or. fuel for that matter let me remind you that several hundred people from bennett will lead have been abducted. after the new regime came into power this picture is not only restricted to a bunny willie in fact there are several places and libya where the so-called revolutionaries the nato mercenaries that invaded libya with the support of nato planes have kidnapped and are still keeping in jail and without trial or any

form of supervision tens of thousands of supporters of free and. national recently has demanded that the seeds armed only a lead be left to. the seeds represents a form of collective punishment that is not very different from the way the libyan people were treated by nato planes or by the so-called revolutionary as well as you saw it absolutely not right but as you point out bani walid is indicative of just how unstable the country is and following the death of the u.s. ambassador last month nato is now offered its help to improve security in the country do you think that western countries should now be more involved in bringing stability to to this very troubled country now. i think that the involvement of western countries was the source of trouble for libya as a whole we have seen the state has become dismantled as happened then iraq and

somalia whatever the nato has walked or u.s. troops of walked then there was a total implosion of the sons of state and this is why you have cases like bernie a lead if you look at it from the point of view of the rule of law and fact that is not all of law and libya and this is just reversed and while on for the control of states that used to be considered the rogue states that is they refuse to abide by the dictates of imperialist countries so it cannot cause just to say that rogue states are a target failed states are a target for extremists for the likes of al qaida for example just how dangerous now is the situation in libya where the authorities will lose control to the extremists. well i think the question as a whole brought an al qaida and to libya and now and to syria again it's the same

western involvement with the support of both throw dollars from qatar and saudi arabia that is handing the country over to a group of fun i think criminals who are hell bent on on blood torture splitting throats and what have you bringing the country a buck and to medieval darkness so. we have seen very clearly what these people are aiming to do they want to punish when there were leads for its stance against the invasion of libya by nato this is a form of collective punishment against the whole population for standing up for the end of pendants and the sovereignty of their country let me just ask you briefly finally today turkey's called on the u.s. britain and their allies to intervene in syria to prevent a looming humanitarian disaster there with the situation in syria be any different from that in libya if there was for a military action. so far i think they are already and thought of reigning in syria

all the weapons and all the volunteers the fundamentalists down there one is coming into syria through turkey and sometimes iraq and lebanon they are not coming in on their own they are being financed and armed by western countries as well as do you see countries so what we are seeing here now is as a form of destabilization the same thing and beirut this recent bombing as an attempt to these style belies the country and this is definitely another at times to put syria on those seeds imploding lebanon and carnally along sectarian lines. political analysts talk to a loose thank you very much indeed for your thoughts. live from jordan thank you well on rest continues in bahrain where another mass rally in the capital there went unnoticed by most of the international media this one passed off peacefully

unlike on thursday when a policeman died of his injuries following a terrorist attack during an anti-government protest demonstrations have been going on for more than twenty months often spilling into violence and the alleged heavy handedness of the security forces is continuing online with four activists arrested on wednesday for posting twitter messages defaming the king. from bahrain's largest opposition party has told r.t. that the kingdom escapes condemnation because of its strategic importance. not seeing the measures that been taken against what their theory and our genes and international community is soft. gene won't tell anyone we'll be calling people going to national community to be we don't want them to help us on overthrowing go to jeanne but we want to be talking about. to see this town with us and implementing every other genes in. all the elements all

means what we call an inclusive democracy that does not undermine anyone who sits on the. course he is very important on that front and in international but unfortunately when it comes to g.c.'s the country is this is. it is not the end because all this started you can close an all in and. use all these. other countries. in the words and that's why we've been victims of this. to the heads of the two main u.s. presidential candidates obama and romney brace for the. pushing the challenges to the margins that's coming your way after a short break. gracefully

dancing across the arctic tundra more than just it is a way of life traditionally the people are. herders and though in many ways they lead a simple and rustic life they are also highly skilled and organized in. another week. depending. on the day we found this particularly camp they were settled near the coast of the see here for families work together to manage nearly a thousand reindeer herding reindeer is not just a job for the people in fact they say it's a part of their entire culture heritage and way of life and they say that they can use almost every single part of the reindeer to help them survive. a deer is

a means of transportation. with. the life in the tundra is harsh and so before winter hits many of the children are helicoptered to the center of the district and not even for boarding school. students learn different languages utilize modern technologies through specialized grant programs and even learn arts skills all within a protected environment the school was founded. a scientist who wanted a better way of life for his people but even with the most progressive ideas and education many say they don't want to trade the modern life. i have returned to the tundra and i actually like it here if you're outside there's fresh air fresh water looks at the site you can see deer it's a joyful sight. a sentiment that hopefully ensures that russia's northern reindeer

will have caretakers for generations to come. you know sometimes you see a story and it seems so you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else you hear or see some other part of it and realized everything you thought you knew you don't know i'm tom are welcome to the big picture. you know sometimes you see a story and it seems so you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else you hear or see some other part of it and realized everything you thought you knew you don't know i'm tom are welcome to the big picture.

in moscow if you just joined us a very warm welcome there was a change of pace in the battle of words between us presidential candidates barack obama and mitt romney who laid down their arms and traded jokes at a charity fundraiser but the debates are still causing a huge t.v. ratings there's criticism that challenges from outside the two major parties almost never appear in televised confrontations the green party's jill stein appears on eighty five percent of the ballots across the country but when she and her running mate were arrested for trying to gain entrance to the latest debate there was little or no media arena. ben men ski the green party's campaign manager believes the two party domination is due to outdated laws and corporate control but the reality is that there's nothing in our constitution which prevents a multi-party system from emerging here in the u.s.

but we do have laws on the books all across the country and we also have the actions of private corporations that have grown up over the last sixty years to prevent independent parties from challenging the two establishment parties here in the united states the laws that we have in the books prevent or make it very difficult for independent parties to get on the ballot to kill voters that choice those laws date from the cold war they date from the mccarthy era in which there was a fear of communism and socialism and they tried to make it very difficult for progressive party some particular to emerge here at the green party we have overcome many of those challenges jill stein is on eighty five percent of the ballots yet there still preventing her from taking part in the debate if you look at the success of the green party despite all the obstacles we face it says that there is a great demand for the greens people vote for the greens here in the u.s. . come on websites you can follow the latest events in the u.s. election a monday we start a special coverage of the ongoing battle between the candidates bringing you

analysis. will there be war. is missing a sense of. u.s. election. to the twenty second. australia has revealed it's been sharing intelligence and one of its most talked about citizens join in the search with washington for around two years the exchange apparently started straight after wiki leaks published secret u.s. military reports on the war in afghanistan and sound himself early accused his home nation or betrayal and pandering to america which he claims wants him behind bars or even dead that we could make or has been holed up in ecuador the london embassy for exactly four months now despite being granted political asylum by the south american nation he's unable to leave the building because of britain's threat of immediate arrest and extradition for more on julian assange just legal battles as well as all the episodes of his own interview show broadcast here on r.t. go to our website party dot com. to of international news in brief now

in our world update coverage central tahrir square is occupied by several thousand protesters at the moment angry at president morsi and his supporters for trying to dominate the drawing up of a new constitution it follows violence last week when morsi is back at the clash with anti-government activists leaving dozens injured the one hundred member assembly writing the new charter is packed with islamists from the muslim brotherhood who support the president. at least nineteen people were killed in northern afghanistan when a roadside bomb detonated under a passing bus fifteen more were injured passengers were travelling to a wedding no one has claimed responsibility and it's not yet clear if the wedding guests were the intended victims. with the government open for a military convoy in the northwest of indian controlled kashmir before reading in nearby hotel they killed one employee and we did two others in the ambush and one

has taken responsibility for the attacks and the search operation is now underway several rebel groups operating kashmir which both india and pakistan claim as their territory. and it brings up today for the moment for the latest on the biggest business news story of the day rosneft could become the biggest oil producer in the world then casey yeah that's right as if the russian oil dollars buy out they pay from the british found and pay those meetings going on in london right now and he's to all of us has all the details for us. that deal is expected to cost somewhere in the region of between twenty five and twenty eight billion dollars they're not going to make that kind of money for selling forms however they could make that it's made around six hundred fifty million from the sale of bonds everything which would help towards trying to convince b.p. that they should sell the fifty percent share in t a k b p two rules nifty they say

there's no reward without risk and the risk the rules never could be taking comes in the form of debt now if they take over all of t. and k b p they would be in debt to help words of sixty billion dollars so that would be hoping relying on a high oil price in order for them to get some kind of good return from their investment in terms of what b.p. wants out of this deal what they would be looking to get is they don't want to pull out of russia entirely they just want out of their partnership is part of t. and k b p will that going to be looking for though as a share of the last lift all important potentially lucrative exploration rights in the arctic the rights to go and look for oil there. again is check out wall street and see the u.s. stocks are now set for the was. last us touch says that just apple microsoft and general electric as well results will be taking a beating today as we can see we've got the worst of markets in the cab as well

which co used up in the red but they did manage to finish out the way with a positive again and that's how business this week and indeed this wait i was going to say today on this week that yes out so for may are back on monday with the rest of the team bell right katie have a good weekend there moscow thanks very much indeed and coming up peter laveau asks his guests whether syria can manage its internal crisis alone and to what extent the situation is controlled from the outside well that's coming our way in just a few minutes on crosstalk. in japan the average height for men is one hundred eighty two centimeters ten centimeters shorter because of that some employers refused to hire me one of them even told me directly that i was too short to deal with the clients could you just already spend three months in this hospital and plans to stay for another four to add the coveted seven santa maters to his stature invented by the famed soviet

orthopedic is good for you is there a from the nine hundred fifty s. these frames for initially used to treat fractures in deformities by cutting bones and slowly pulling them apart and therefore stimulating tissue regeneration it was out of was able to receive arms and legs and people who thought they were crippled for life be sent to the other patients shattered bones and in many cases their shattered lives will go when professing designed his first frame using bicycle parts sixty years later says invention is increasingly being used to help people quite eager to fracture their legs to become a few centimeters taller than the ultimate goal is still the same six thing somebody is live both literally and figuratively about a third of patients admitted to be always out of center nowadays seeking syringe refocus medical reasons most of them a man and most are not what you would call vertically challenged professor novick

of who operated on many of them says it usually comes down to a man's pride some of the first patient to turn to us with a leg length in the request to meet his fifteen centimeters to be still want to surgery because panos to than him we like to say that we need to break their legs in order to fix their head maybe nothing wrong with them from an orthopedic point of view but there is something psychological that prevents them from living their lives fully being happy and we fix it like lengthening surgeries are banned in many countries and even the out there press. expansive in russia the entire course costs eleven thousand dollars about one tenth of the similar package in the united states financial considerations for one of the reasons that brought this washington state to western siberia main motive for the surgery had to do with how he fared in the others in america advertised as one seventy five i was one sixty seven or one

sixty a console one eight centimeters would have brought me right to every piece i just wanted to be average for women height isn't so important you know i think girl can be short and it's not a big deal i think the guy is like expected to be taller just before the operation most this matter a russian girl who found he's a regional hide quite endearing yet he still want to have had the surgery adding seven more centimeters to the self-confidence she told me the whole time you're crazy you're normal you're perfect. so now or so they call you so what a compliment for somebody who's used to falling short of his own expectations. and if. you

want to. follow in welcome to cross talk i'm peter lavelle syria a blaze as the world faces off supporting different sides fighting the syrian civil war rebel groups within the country struggle to unify can the syria we know today survive and is the future of this divided country now in the hands of outsiders. to cross not the syrian inferno one. joined by flynt leverett in washington he's a professor of international relations at penn state university in new york we have my own javedanfar he is a middle east analyst and lecturer at the interdisciplinary center in herts lia and in beirut we crossed and i am solemn he is an associate professor and co-founder of the faculty of international affairs and diplomacy at notre dame university at lebanon all right gentlemen cross talk rules and i think that means you can jump in anytime you want and i very much encourage it there's talk of some kind of

ceasefire going on among the stakeholders in the region around syria including in syria what are your feelings as a negotiated end to this conflict still possible because it looks like a lot of people are digging their heels in and a lot of people the rebels do not want to talk so where do you think we stand right now about a peaceful negotiation well we're not in a good place but i think that a negotiated political settlement remains the only way out of the mess. obviously he mean his role as u.n. and arab league envoy is trying to get traction with the process use a cease fire to jumpstart that. iran for its part has supported the plan the syrian government has expressed its willingness to to cooperate and something of a shift.